outfit: action slacks

calivintage: action slacks

just a few snaps from a walk around my neighborhood on a particularly sunny day. this is another one of those outfits that i wear pretty often, but don’t usually photograph. i could live in these jeans if i could get away with it because they’re super soft and stretchy with a perfect high rise. i remember when i was in high school, i used to have this pair of men’s action slacks. they were comfort jeans for old men that had a tab waist with stretch denim. i was a skinny kid and they were regular men’s sizes, so wore them slung awkwardly at my hips, but i just loved them because they were this perfect baby blue. now i just like to refer to all of my stretch jeans as action slacks, though i suppose these are slightly more fashionable…

top: equipment sailor blouse
jeans: j brand maria
shoes: thrifted vintage loafers
sunglasses: ray-ban round wayfarer
lipstick: nars heat wave

calivintage: action slacks
calivintage: action slacks
calivintage: action slacks
calivintage: action slacks

arabella ramsay fall 2012

i know we are fast approaching summer, but while we’re enjoying the warming temperatures, the southern hemisphere is slipping into fall and winter weather. and this season, arabella ramsay released a beautiful collection just for the occasion. “the apple of my isle” fall 2012 may be a bit warm for us right now, but i have a few pieces on my wishlist that i think will transition pretty seamlessly from season to season. i am, of course, smitten with that mustard yellow shift dress above, but am equally excited about the eclectic mix of stripes, florals, animal prints, and crochet. i’m sharing just a few of my favorites, so you’ll have to swing over to the arabella ramsay site to see the rest!

photos courtesy of arabella ramsay.










sammich cake

calivintage: smÁ¶rgÁ¥stÁ¥rta

no, your eyes are not deceiving you. this is a food post on a fashion blog. please don’t roll your eyes too much because i am quite proud of my latest creation! as i’m sure some of you know, i work for modcloth.com as an editorial specialist. this basically means that in addition to writing posts for the blog, i run the modcloth tumblr and instagram, and generally produce editorial content for the site. i also do most of the blog photography and even recently shot some campaign photos. it’s basically a really fun, creative job where i get to dabble in all sorts of different projects. after hesitating for over two years, i finally decided to try my hand at a cooking post. and this is what was born: it’s a sammich cake! also known as a smÁ¶rgÁ¥stÁ¥rta. i made it and took the photos at my friend’s house and now i feel like i’ve been bitten by the food blogging bug.

anyway, i originally posted this on the modcloth blog (where you can find my recipe), but i just had to share the photos here because i was so pleased with my first attempt, and wondered what you guys thought. little known fact: many moons ago, i was professionally trained in culinary school and am actually a certified pastry chef. i’ve never shared any of my work here because it’s a fashion blog, but perhaps you’d like to see what else i’ve got up my sleeve?

calivintage: smÁ¶rgÁ¥stÁ¥rta
calivintage: smÁ¶rgÁ¥stÁ¥rta

calivintage: smÁ¶rgÁ¥stÁ¥rta
calivintage: smÁ¶rgÁ¥stÁ¥rta
calivintage: smÁ¶rgÁ¥stÁ¥rta
calivintage: smÁ¶rgÁ¥stÁ¥rta
calivintage: smÁ¶rgÁ¥stÁ¥rta
calivintage: smÁ¶rgÁ¥stÁ¥rta
calivintage: smÁ¶rgÁ¥stÁ¥rta

outfit: americana

calivintage: americana

i don’t know about you, but i’m feeling the tinge of summer. i’m sure kids are sitting in their classrooms looking out the windows just waiting for the last day of school before they can run free, and take day trips to water parks and boardwalks. i won’t be afforded quite the same luxury, but i have been enjoying the changing atmosphere. over the weekend, we drove an hour east to lake del valle to bbq and enjoy the sun. we sat on a park bench under a tree shooting the shit and filling our bellies with grilled veggies and fancy farmer’s market meat. we waited an hour, or maybe it was two or three, before hiking out to find a swimming spot along the water while the moon orbited around the earth and covered up the sun, and the light dimmed around us momentarily. and i stuck my feet into the murky lake mud and waded in the water drinking a beer until i was too cold to stand it anymore.

i completely forgot to bring my camera with me, so i can only document that memory with words, but this is one of my almost summer outfits. it’s basically the same thing that i wore a few weeks ago, a bit of a summer uniform for me. simple tank, wrap skirt, wedge sandals.

top: stylemint blossom tank
skirt: vintage denim wrap skirt (similar)
shoes: kork-ease ava wedges
bag: family affairs tote
lipstick: nars heat wave
glasses: 3.1 phillip lim from a few seasons back

calivintage: americana
calivintage: americana
calivintage: americana

stylemint giveaway!

today i’m excited to share my latest giveaway courtesy of stylemint! we’ve teamed up to offer you the chance to win one stylemint credit good towards any item in the stylemint store. i’m sure you already know that stylemint offers a wide variety of t-shirts, but in recent months, they’ve also incorporated some cute dresses and skirts, and even have a small selection of sunglasses. they all make for great basics, which is something that i can always use more of in my wardrobe.

to enter:
1. sign up for stylemint. it’s free to join and there is no obligation to purchase. simply visit stylemint.com and take the style quiz to be taken to your showroom of recommended styles.
2. leave a comment in the section below telling us which item is your absolute favorite.

stylemint is a sponsor of calivintage.com. contest is open to international readers, so anyone can enter. only one entry per person. winner will be randomly selected after tuesday, may 29 and contacted via email. winner will receive one stylemint credit good towards the purchase of any item in the stylemint store.

outfit: water color

calivintage: water color

one of the things i love about my neighborhood is the secret network of sneaky little pedestrian pathways. it’s a hilly area, so these hidden stairwells make it much more convenient for getting around. whenever i stumble upon another shortcut, i always feel like a little kid, having discovered some entryway into another world. and this time of year, they are particularly pleasant since the springtime flowers and vines and weeds are taking over. the light is usually quite harsh in this spot, but as we passed by early saturday morning on the way to the farmers market, the light was just right, so we stopped to take a few photos.

the weather was nice, so i took the opportunity to get dressed up in my most festive farmer’s market garb and pulled on my new lauren moffatt top and skirt. both are constructed of a lightweight linen, which kept me cool as a cucumber on a warm weekend day. after stocking up on summer squash at the farmer’s market, we headed to the greek festival with free tickets in our pockets (a gift from one of brendan’s clients). i’d never been to a greek festival, so it was quite the treat! we got to peek inside the stunning greek orthodox cathedral, and were treated to epic lamb sammiches and loukoumades. a little old lady even stopped to compliment me on my crochet top, which pretty much made my day!

top and skirt: lauren moffatt
shoes: kork-ease bette wedges
bag: vintage woven tote
lipstick: ysl fard a levres rouge pur in rosy coral

calivintage: water color
calivintage: water color
calivintage: water color
calivintage: water color
calivintage: water color

citrus summer

i know i don’t usually wear a ton of bright colors in my typical outfits, but i have a little secret: yellow and orange are easily two of my favorite colors. and while i’m not necessarily going to get decked out in a bright lemon yellow or peachy sherbet tone any time soon, i definitely plan to sprinkle them in among my summer accessories for a little pop of color. so when nordstrom and polyvore asked me if i’d like to share my summer must-have accessories wishlist, i made a beeline for my favorite citrus hue.

see something you like? then head on over to polyvore for a chance to win a $500 gift card to nordstrom! or click here to see more summer must-haves.

weekly roundup

weekly roundup may 18

it’s been such a long time since i’ve done one of these, that it was fun going back through my tumblr archives and looking at all of the pictures that have been inspiring me for the past few weeks. among some of my favorites: yours truly, x, dresses on a clothesline, vanessa jackman, refinery29, all the pretty birds, and the sartorialist.

you can always check my tumblr, pinterest, and bike blog for even more inspiration. have a good weekend!

wren x clare vivier

wren x clare vivier

i’ve long been a fan of both wren and clare vivier, so when i received a little peek at the new collaboration between the two, i just had to share! they designed this lovely french market-inspired tote using the ever-popular celestrial print from wren’s spring 2012 collection and vegetable-tanned leather for this classy reversible tote. bonus points for being locally made in los angeles using remnants from wren production! it’s like the grown-up version of the million and one canvas totes i have stockpiled in my apartment. in celestial print! the bag is available now at both wren and clare vivier.

photos by jeahna sohn.

wren x clare vivier
wren x clare vivier
wren x clare vivier

bathing beauties

charles w. cushman

it’s been a long while since i’ve shared some real vintage inspiration, so today i thought i’d share some vintage photos that recently caught my eye. i found them while editing posts for the modcloth tumblr at work; they’d been added to the queue by my coworker julie (you may know her from orchid grey)! i clicked-through and became instantly fascinated by these dreamy photos of women who i do no know, snapped by amateur photographer and indiana university alumnus charles w. cushman. apparently the university now has a collection of 14,500 of his kodachrome color slides dating from 1938 – 1969. i’d seen some photos from this collection floating around the web before, but something about these haunting images really struck a chord. i do admit that it feels a bit voyeuristic to be looking at ladies in their swimsuits, but something about the personal nature of them really feels like you could almost be there, experiencing a day at the beach in another time and place. but mostly i just wish they still made suits like that!

charles w. cushman
charles w. cushman
charles w. cushman
charles w. cushman
charles w. cushman
charles w. cushman